Categories: Finance

Financial Markets

&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 2&period;0&period;95 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad1" id&equals;"quads-ad1" style&equals;"float&colon;left&semi;margin&colon;0px 0px 0px 0&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<p align&equals;"justify">In general terms financial market is a mechanism of delivering savings from the households&comma; governments&comma; and corporations to the users of these funds&period; Financial markets and financial assets exist in an economy because the savings of various individuals and institutions during a period of time differ from their investment in real assets&period; By real assets&comma; we mean things such as houses&comma; buildings&comma; equipments&comma; inventories&comma; and durable goods&period; If savings equaled investment in real assets for all economic units in an economy over all periods of time&comma; there would be no external financing&comma; no financial assets&comma; and no money and no financial markets&period; In this case each economic unit would be self sufficient&period; A financial asset is created only when the investment of an economic unit in real assets exceeds its savings&comma; and it finances this excess by borrowing or issuing equity securities&period; Of course&comma; another economic unit must be willing to lend&period; This as a whole&comma; savings-surplus economic units provide funds to savings deficit units&period; This exchange of funds is evidenced by pieces of paper representing a financial asset to the holder and a financial liability to the issuer&period;&&num;160&semi; <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p align&equals;"justify">The purpose of financial markets in an economy is to allocate savings efficiently during a period of time to parties who use funds for investment in real assets or for consumption&period; If those parties that saved were the same as those that engaged in capital formation the economy can prosper without financial markets&period; In modern economies&comma; however&comma; the economic units most responsible for capital formation&&num;8212&semi;-non financial corporations&&num;8212&semi;- use more than their total savings for investing in real assets&period; Household&comma; on the other hand&comma; have total savings in excess of total investment&period; The more diverse the pattern of desired savings and investment among economic units the greater the need for efficient financial markets to distribute savings to ultimate users&period; The investor in real assets and ultimate saver should be brought together at the least possible cost and inconvenience&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p align&equals;"justify">Efficient financial markets are essential to ensure adequate capital formation and economic growth in an economy&period; With financial intermediaries in an economy&comma; the flow of savings from savers to users of funds can be indirect&period; Financial intermediaries include institutions such as commercial banks&comma; life insurance companies and pension and profit sharing funds&period; These intermediates come between ultimate borrowers and lenders by transforming direct claims into indirect ones&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p align&equals;"justify">Financial intermediary transforms the funds in such a way as to make them more attractive&period; On one hand&comma; the indirect security issued to ultimate lenders is more attractive than is a direct or primary security&period; In particular&comma; these indirect claims are well suited to the small saver&period; On the other hand&comma; the ultimate borrower is able to sell its primary securities to financial intermediary on more attractive terms than it could if the securities were sold directly to ultimate lenders&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p align&equals;"justify">Financial intermediaries provide a variety of services and economies that make them quite attractive&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p align&equals;"justify">• Transaction costs and costs associated with locating potential borrowers and savers are lowered<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 2&period;0&period;95 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad2" id&equals;"quads-ad2" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px 0 0px 0&semi;text-align&colon;center&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;<p align&equals;"justify">• The risk of unreliable information is reduced&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p align&equals;"justify">• Due to the pool of large of amount savings and investment opportunity it provides a flexible and divisible forum to both saver and borrower&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p align&equals;"justify">• By investing in different securities and an intermediary actually spreads the risk&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p align&equals;"justify">• Intermediary provides expert services to both saver and borrower&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p align&equals;"justify">Some times intermediation process becomes cumbersome and there is a reversion towards direct loans and security issues&period; This process is called disintermediation&period; In other words when financial intermediations no longer makes the market efficient than the process of disintermediation occurs&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3>Components of Financial Markets<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p align&equals;"justify">There are two components of financial markets<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3>Money market<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p align&equals;"justify">Money market refers to a mechanism where short term securities mainly with maturity period of one year are traded&period; A large number of buyers and sellers run the market with securities relatively short term in nature and of small denominations&period; Trading in the money markets involves Treasury bills&comma; commercial paper&comma; bankers&&num;8217&semi; acceptances&comma; certificates of deposit&comma; government funds&comma; and short term mortgage- and asset-backed securities&period; It provides liquidity to the firms&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3>Capital Market<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p align&equals;"justify">Capital market is a place where sale and purchase of shares and bonds take place aiming to invest or lend and borrow funds for the longer term use usually more than one year&period; A large number of investors provide funds to a large number of companies&comma; corporations&comma; and firms willing to raise funds&period; The capital market includes stock market &lpar;equity securities&rpar; and bond market &lpar;debt securities&rpar;&period; &NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 2&period;0&period;95 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad3" id&equals;"quads-ad3" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;

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